Eight-month-old: any red flags?

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My son is just over eight months, and the more time I spend around other babies at playgroups etc., the more he strikes me as a bit different, though I can't quite put my finger on it.

On the "plus" side:

Sat unassisted at five months
Smiley
Laughs a lot
Gaining weight well
Dexterous; good pincer grasp; banged two blocks at 6.5 months
Knew from the first time he ate how to use a spoon; no issues about texture (no bib and is very neat at eating)
Rolls a lot

On the "iffy" side:

Cannot switch off: requires blaring white noise machine/forty minutes of rocking to sleep
Tries to climb up me and cling, and/or sits with fist permanently in mouth during music classes
Babbles mostly when he runs the spoon/a toy all around his mouth. The odd consonant, but mainly "ah" sounds.
Flaps arms incessantly when excited/annoyed/mildly interested.
He can't kneel on all fours (one leg seems "stuck" somehow, as if one hip is too open)
The odd occasion he falls from sitting, doesn't put his hands out to protect himself
Colicky for six months
Back feels rigid and quite muscular for a young baby

Is there anything here I should point out at his nine-month assessment?

Tbh, at this age, if you have an instinct I would raise it, but wouldn't expect anything to happen.

He 'sounds' normal to me, but I'm not there to see him.

i was watching video of my ds at 8 months yesterday. He is 16 years old now! The video is of a holiday so things do stick in my mind

This is a video of a holiday. I know he uttered his first bababa that week, remember because we were on a transfer coach from the airport when he did it. He is mouthing things to make different noises in the video.

He most definitely can't get up on all 4s in that video. I remember him being a bit frustrated on that hoilday and when he got back he started commando crawling. He rolled around a lot to get around but you can see him trying to get up but he can't. He then went on to walk at 10 months and never ever learnt to crawl on all 4s.
At 16 now he is far brighter than average with some dyslexic problems. He is strong and fit, never into team sports but a strong swimmer etc
I know ds wasn't behind in any of his development so some of the things you are worrying about are really not a problem.

Thanks for the replies.

I've always felt there was "something", but I don't know if it's simply fallout from him having been a colicky kid. He's very responsive and engaged, will happily "read" with me for 30-45 minutes, but sometimes seems to be utterly elsewhere, noticing distant sounds/pushing a button many times over/seeming deliriously happy to have the tumble dryer switched on. But I feel silly raising these things if they are "normal" amongst most babies his age.

DS at 8 months was a floppy baby, couldn't sit even with support and was unable to weight bear on his legs, if you tried to stand him on your lap he would draw his legs up immediately. He didn't crawl at all until much later on, but dragged himself round like a slug, never got up onto all fours.

As a younger baby he would only feed if we had the hoover on or a white noise CD, which seems odd as the older he got, he hated the noise of the hoover. He could only get off to sleep if we had the tumble drier on, I used to look for things to wash just so I had the tumble drier loaded, ready to go at all times (our electricity bill that first year of his life was a shocker!). He had definite issues with food/texture, only progressing onto lumpy foods at about 14 months. Having said all that, I put a lot of these issues down to his GERD and it's quite likely that it contributed to his behaviours as he was in pain for most of the time.

I think your list of pluses are encouraging, my NT DD's had colic and needed lots of swaddling and shushing to get off to sleep, it's so hard to tell.

There's no harm in raising your concerns but I don't think anything will be done about it, but no harm in having your concerns noted down.

It's so hard to say anything based on a list, without seeing your DS (and without any relevant professional qualification). BUT lots of the things on your list remind me of my DS1 at that age. He also sat early and was very strong (although not a quick crawler / walker), sat on my knee and listened to stories for hours, was colicky, a nightmare to get to sleep for the first year, hated music classes (at aged about 1 we just gave up) and loved the washing machine / tumbler drier (napped in his pram in the utility room).

He's nearly 4 now. At points (particularly during his first 2.5 years) I have wondered whether there is something a bit differerent about him, and to be honest he is still not exactly your run of the mill child - slightly eccentric (but only very slightly) and a bit precocious, for want of a kinder word. But I am 99% sure that he is NT (I work with children his age with a range of learning difficulties, so I think I hope I'd recognise any issues in a preschooler worth exploring). He's still not desperately keen on group music - until aged about 3 he would refuse to join in at nursery, now he will sit quietly in the circle and participate a bit, but definitely doesn't love it. But it's just a personality thing for him. As others have said it is always worth having your concerns noted, but you might just want to see how he develops - I was surprised at how early DS1 developed consistent likes and dislikes, but I honestly don't think that with him there is much more to it than a slightly quirky personality.

When I say he hates music classes, there's one he likes (3-4 kids; able to mouth different instruments; zones in and out to suit his needs) as opposed to one he tolerated when younger but now dislikes (15 kids, prescribed routine and the same movements/songs every week; he goes stiff, for example, when I try to move his legs/arms the way the teacher instructs, and fights to turn away from the group, only to grin at the bars on the windows).

FlyingFig, my son actually had silent reflux. He was in terrible pain the first 4.5 months. He used to grunt and moan much of the day and rub his ankles together to find some relief. He hated going on his tummy until seven months and only a couple of weeks ago did we move him from sleeping on an incline in his stroller to a crib for overnight sleeping, a routine I suspect has hampered some of his ability/willingness to move about.

Re: DS, I'm caught between sharp bouts of concern to thinking all is rosy. I should add, too, that I live in NYC, so I suspect, if anything is "wrong", intervention will begin much sooner.

The whole health insurance thing blows. Luckily we have good coverage, but I find it hard to live in a country that offers such uneven standards of care.